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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Drug Companies Help Prevent Olympic Doping

The Olympics is the largest sporting event in the world, a time when athletes from around the world come together to compete for the most prestigious award - the gold medal. While athletes look for an “edge” in the games, officials work hard to catch those who use drugs to enhance their performance. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, large drug companies are helping officials with uncovering those athletes who might be doping, the Associated Press reports.

Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche are some of the major research laboratories that are sharing confidential information with anti-doping officials at this year's games, according to the AP.

“If you want to predict the future of doping it’s essential that you have collaborations with the pharmas,” said Olivier Rabin, Science Director of the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA), overseer of Olympic testing standards.

The Biotech Industry Organization, which represents most biotech drug makers, signed an agreement with WADA in 2011. Information is voluntarily shared about drugs that are being made that might be used by competitive athletes.

"A lot of what dopers are looking for is under the radar. They’re looking for drugs that were terminated and that enforcement agencies don’t know about yet," Mark Luttman, who coordinates Glaxo’s anti-doping program with WADA, told the AP.